Protective cover for furniture and the like



July 8, 1958 B. H. GRATT 2,842,189

PROTECTIVE COVER FOR FURNITURE AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 13, 1956 MM M PROTECTIVE COVER FOR FURNITURE AND THE LIKE Benjamin H. Gratt, Providence, R. L, assignor of fifty percent to Herbert E. Graft, Cranston, R. 1.

Application November 13, 1956, Serial N0. 621,931

1 Claim. (Cl. 155182) The present invention pertains generally to upholstered furniture, such as chairs, sofas, and the like, and more particularly, to the provision of a pull-out or disappearing protective covering for same.

A primary object of the instant invention is the provision of cover means for upholstered furniture and the like for protecting portions thereof from becoming readily soiled, such as the head-rest and arm portions.

Another important object of my invention is the provision of a protective cover for upholstered furniture whereby to materially lengthen the effective and useful life of said furniture, but at the same time not detracting from the appearance of same.

Another object of the instant invention is the provision of a protective cover of the character described, which cover is physically attached to the upholstered furniture with which it is associated, but which nevertheless may be readily and easily withdrawn from view when desired without being detached from said furniture piece.

Also an object of my invention is the provision of a protective cover for upholstered furniture and the like which is applicable not only to furniture in the home, but also to chairs, sofas, and the like in various types of public conveyances, such as trains, buses and airplanes.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a protective cover for upholstered furniture which may be incorporated with the furniture during the initial construction thereof, or which, on the other hand, may be adapted to a completely constructed and upholstered furniture piece.

An additional object is the provision of a protective cover for furniture and the like which in use is a permanent part of said furniture, but which nevertheless may be easily detached for replacement upon becoming soiled or otherwise undesirable from an appearance standpoint.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a protective cover for furniture and the like which may be selectively withdrawn from its operative position whereby it is no longer visible, said withdrawing means being gravity or spring actuated.

Still another object of the instant invention is the provision of a protective cover for furniture and the like which is both attractive and eflicient in use, but which nevertheless is economically feasible to manufacture and incorporate with conventional upholstered furniture pieces.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawings which illustrate the best mode presently contemplated by me for carrying out my invention:

Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of a chair having protective covers constructed in accordance with my invention in operative position at the head-rest and arm portions thereof;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary rear perspective of the uppermost portion of the chair shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary rear perspective of the chair nite States Patent Patented July 8, 1958 shown in Fig. 1 with a portion of the upholstery broken away for purposes of illustration;

Fig. 4 is a sectional perspective taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2; i

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective detail of the cover per se which forms a part of my invention;

Fig. 6 is a perspective detail of the guide strip which forms a part of my invention;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective, partly broken away, showing a suggested mounting for the arm cover;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary rear perspective of a chair back, partly broken away, showing a modified protective cover construction; and

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary rear perspective showing a protective cover assembly mounted on a completely upholstered chair.

One of the problems that has long existed in connection with upholstered furniture, such as chairs, sofas and the like, resides in the fact that the furniture upholstery becomes soiled and unsightly at particular portions thereof and in a relatively short period of time. More specifically, the portion of the furniture piece which is most likely to become so soiled is the so-called head-rest portion, against which the head of the occupant is in frequent engagement. As a result of this engagement, hair oils, grease, and perspiration cause rapid discoloration, and even though the remainder of the furniture upholstery is relatively bright and clean, the overall appearance of the piece is definitely marred. Another trouble point is the arm rests, since dirt, perspiration and the like from the occupants hands cause these particular areas to discolor as well.

In order to overcome these difficulties, and in order to avoid the expense and inconvenience of frequent and periodic reupho-lstering, separate cover pieces of textile fabric have been used to protect the af-oredescribed locations. These cover pieces, or doilies as they are known, have failed to adequately remedy the situation for the following reasons. First of all, they not infrequently detract from the appearance of the furniture piece. Secondly, since usually they are not attached to the furniture, they often become disarranged, disheveled, and in many cases are even inadvertently pushed off onto the floor by the occupant of the furniture piece. Furthermore, whenever it is desirable to remove these covers, such as, for example, when company is coming, or the like, it is necessary to remove the pieces and store them away some place where they are out of sight and then at some later time again fetch them and place them back on the furniture, all of which is quite inconvenient, in addition to providing opportunity forthe cover pieces to become soiled or misplaced.

It, therefore, has become desirable to provide a protective cover for upholstered furniture wherein said cover is an integral part of the furniture upholstery although it nevertheless may be readily and easily withdrawn from sight whenever so desired. Although my invention is adaptable to completely constructed and upholstered furniture, in most cases it is preferable that my protective cover assembly be incorporated in the furniture construction during the initial manufacture thereof. Thus, the cover itself may be constructed of the same textile fabric as the chair upholstery, or else any other selected material and design may be utilized so as to artistically and attractively blend in with the furniture upholstery. As will hereinafter be clearly brought out, my protective cover is attached to the furniture piece with which it is associated, "but, nevertheless, it may be readily and easily withdrawn to a position wherein it is substantially no longer visible, said withdrawing means being either spring or gravity actuated. Also, the cover itself is detachable from its mounting whereby it may be easily cleaned or replaced whenever such becomes necessary or desirable.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to Fig. 1 thereof, there is shown an upholstered chair, generally designated at 10, having a head-rest cover 12 and arm-rest covers 14, each of which is mounted in accordance with my invention and in a manner now to be clearly described. It will be understood, however, that although my invention is illustrated and described in connection with a chair, the invention is equally applicable to any upholstered furniture piece having a back rest and/or arm rests. Also, it will be understood that for purposes of this invention the phrase upholstered furniture also covers furniture having separable cushions thereon, which cushions are covered with a textile fabric or the like whereby they are prone to become readily soiled in the manner aforediscussed.

Referring to Figs. 2 through 6, it will be noted that the cover 12 is carried by a conventional spring roller 16 rotatably mounted on the undersurface of the chair upper cross frame 18 by means of brackets 20. As afore indicated, the spring roller 16 is of conventional and standard construction and is similar in all respects to the usual window-shade roller, having pawl and ratchet means 22 provided for maintaining the cover in its outermost or operative positionagainst the tension of the roller spring (not shown).

Spanning the rear of the chair and preferably secured to the oppositely disposed upright frame members 24 thereof is a guide strip element 26. As will be seen most clearly in Fig. 6, the element 26 is provided with an offset central portion 28 having rearwardly disposed mounting portions 30 at each extremity thereof. The strip 26 is preferably metallic, although any other suitable material may be utilized, and as previously indicated, is secured to the rear surfaces of the upright frame members 24 so as to span the rear of the chair. The strip 26 may be rigidly secured in position by any desirable means, such as screws, tacks, or the like, and preferably is mounted somewhat above the axis of roller 16, as will be seen most clearly in Fig. 4.

Still referring to Fig. 4, it will "be noted that the chair upholstery fabric 32 extends rearwardly down over the chair top and terminates slightly below the upper extremity of the strip 26, as at 34, it being apparent that the fabric 32 is secured in position on the rear of the chair by being tacked or otherwise secured to the rear surface of the upright frame members 24. The remainder of the chair rear portion is covered by textile fabric 36, which, of course, is identical to the fabric 32, the fabric 36 being looped around the strip 26 as at 38 and then being secured to itself as at 40.

Due to the offset configuration of the strip 26, a slot 42 is provided extending transversely of the rear of the chair 10, as shown most clearly in Figs. 2 and 4. As will be obvious, the length of the slot 42 is slightly greater than the width of the cover 12 whereby the latter is free to move in and out thereof. Since the spring wind of the roller 16 would tend to retract the free end of the cover 12 entirely whereby said cover would then be inaccessible for grasping in order to move it to operative or chair-protecting position, the free extremity of the cover 12 is provided with an enlarged welt edge as shown at 44, it being understood that the edge 44 is just large enough so as to preclude it being withdrawn through the slot 42.

In order that the cover 12 may be quickly removed for cleaning or replacement, I prefer to construct said cover of two separable portions 46 and 48, note Fig. 5. The portions 46 and 48 may be removably attached to each other by any desirable means, such as snap fasteners 50, it being understood that the portion 46 actually functions as the chair cover, the point of connection between the two portions being located outside of but closely adjacent the slot 42. Of course, other types of detachable fastening means, such as zippers or the like, can be used to releasably connect the portions 46 and 48 if desired.

The use and operation of my invention is thought to be obvious from the foregoing description, but briefly, it is as follows. With the assembly in the position of Fig. 4, the cover 12 is retracted by the spring action of the roller 16, but the free edge 44 of said cover is prevented from being withdrawn through slot 42 by means of the welt edge provided thereon. \Vhen it is desired to pull out the cover 12, it is simply necessary to grasp the edge 44 and pull the cover outwardly until it assumes the operative position shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. Once this position is reached, pawl and ratchet 22 may be rendered effective to maintain this position against the spring action of the roller by giving the cover a slight tug or jerk, this being exactly similar to the operation of the conventional window shade and roller. Conversely, when it is desired to retract the cover 12, it is simply necessary to give said cover an additional pull or jerk whereby to disengage the pawl and ratchet and allow the spring roller to return the cover to the position of Fig. 4. It will be understood that the cover 12 may be constructed of any desirable material, such as textile fabric, plastic or the like, and in many cases it will be found desirable to construct said cover of exactly the same fabric as the furniture upholstery, whereby said cover will be hardly visible even when in operative and protective position.

In Fig. 7 my invention is shown as applied to the arm of chair 10, the cover 14 being mounted on roller 52, which in turn is secured to chair frame 54 by means of brackets 56. It will be understood that the operation of this assembly is identical to that of the aforedescribed head-rest assembly, a slot 58 being provided along the inner surface of the arm upholstery whereby to receive the cover 14, and the cover being provided with an enlarged welt 60 at its outermost extremity whereby to prevent withdrawl of the cover through the slot 58. It will be understood that the slot 58 will at all times be completely obscured by the chair seat cushion 62 and that the cover 14 will likewise be completely obscured when in retracted or non-operative position.

In Fig. 8, a slightly modified form of head-rust assembly is shown. In this construction, no roller is used, but rather the cover 64 is provided at its innermost extremity with a weighted bar or rod 66 which will serve to retain the cover in retracted position as shown. A guide strip 68 similar to aforedescribed guide strip 26 is provided, said guide strip being mounted in position on the rear surface of the chair horizontal upper frame member 70. It will be understood that it is optional as to whether the guide strips 26 and/or 68 be mounted to the rear of the upper horizontal chair frame as illustrated in Fig. 8, or whether it be mounted to the rear surfaces of the oppositely disposed upright chair frames as described in connection with the embodiment of my invention illus trated in Figs. 2 through 6. The chair upholstery fabric 72 is secured in position beneath and around the strip 68 as described heretofore whereby to provide a slot 74. The outermost end of cover 64 is provided with an enlarged welt edge 76 of sufficient size to prevent the cover 64 from being withdrawn entirely through the slot 74. As will be obvious, with this form of my invention it is simply necessary to grasp the end 76 of cover 64 whereby said cover may be withdrawn to operative position, it being understood that the weight 66 is not sufficiently heavy so as to have a tendency to inadvertently retract the cover. When it is desired to retract the cover, the latter is simply lifted up and held in vertical position whereby the weighted end will cause the cover to gravitate downwardly along the inner surface of the rear upholstery 72.

In some instances, it may be desirable to utilize my invention in connection with a furniture piece that is already completely constructed and upholstered. In order to accomplish this, I provide a metallic or plastic housing 78 having a slot 80 provided on the upper surface thereof (note Fig. 9). The housing or casing 78 is preferably attractively colored and is secured to the upper portion of the chair rear surface by any suitable means, such as tacks 82 or the like. In view of the fact that the housing 78 is not normally visible except from the rear of the chair, and in view further of the fact that said housing is colored to blend in with the chair color and design, it has been found that the unit does not detract from the overall chair appearance to any appreciable degree. Within the housing 78 there is rotatably mounted a conventional spring roller (not shown), said roller carrying the cover 84 and operating in an identical fashion to the aforedescribed rollers 16 and 52. Although not illustrated in Fig. 9, it will be understood that the cover 84 may be constructed of two separable portions removably attached to each other by any suitable snap fastening or zipper means whereby the operative part of the cover may be removed for cleaning or may be replaced without the necessity of disassembling the entire housing 78 from its associated furniture piece.

While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention, it will be mania 6 tion, an elongated slot in said upholstery extending transversely in the rear of said back portion, a flexible cover 'slidably extending through said slot and having an enlarged flexible welt edge at its outer extremity of greater thickness than said slot for preventing complete retraction of said cover therethrough, and means located within said hollow space for mounting said cover for selective movement from a retracted position wherein only said welt edge is visible, to an extended position wherein the cover passes up over the top of said back portion and down the front surface thereof, said slot being defined by a rigid guide strip secured to said frame and having an offset portion at least as long as the width of said cover, said offset being less than the thickness of said cover welt edge, and said cover being of two-part construction and having means for detachably connecting said two parts, whereby at least the part of the cover which extends down the front surface of the piece may be readily detached for replacement, cleaning or the like.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,135,161 Daniels Apr. 13, 1915 1,238,581 Shannon Aug. 28, 1917 1,331,122 Olsen Feb. 17, 1920 1,734,761 Buttenuth Nov. 5, 1929 1,950,927 McMillan Mar. 13, 1934 1,985,222 Menhall Dec. 18, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,638 Great Britain 1891 5,125 Great Britain 1901 21,946 Great Britain 1903 25,720 Great Britain 1901 

